USDA'S LACK OF SUPPORT FOR LOGGERS PUTS YOUR TOILET PAPER, BOXES, LUMBER AND MASKS @ RISK

 CAROLINA LOGGER BOBBY GOODSON ADDRESSES COVID-19 - Candid Video

How Does Logging Affect You Personally?

In more ways than you might imagine.

So many products you depend on are made of wood - toothpaste, masks, tires, cell phone glass, toilet paper, boxes, paper, sanitized wipes and lumber, to name just a few.

As the wood supply chain teeters, those items you use are at risk due to COVID-19. 

The USDA can solve this and was created to address this. Only problem is the USDA is NOT serving those they represent – America’s loggers; yet they have served our farmers for decades. 

WE NEED YOUR HELP

First, let me give you some context along with Bobby Goodson.

At the onset of this pandemic, the very first step of the Carolina Loggers Association and loggers associations across the US was to ensure that loggers were deemed essential workers.  That made sure to keep the products you need in stock and to sustain the jobs of 10,000 loggers and timber haulers as well as the 150,000 full and part-time jobs in NC alone that depend on the logging and forestry community.  

Those number are magnified significantly across 34 states that have family owned logging operations. 

Every link in the wood supply chain matters: from the land owners, to the foresters, to the folks planting seedlings, to the loggers, to the timber haulers, to the mill workers, to the wood brokers, and to all those who provide support services and products. Our economy depends on keeping this supply chain strong and in tact.

Generations of loggers have built this nation, and they continue because they love it. With razor thin profit margins of 1% to 3% on a capital intensive business with large debt loads in the millions, loggers are especially at risk. Just a small decline in production on a good year is crippling. The unprecedented production declines at rates greater than 35% in NC alone are simply not sustainable. It's breaking logging operations.   As we lose loggers, the grave concern is that few will be willing to enter the business due to such high risks, putting the entire wood supply chain, and America’s economy, in jeopardy. 

FISHERMEN ALSO GET HELP FROM CONGRESS

For years I fought for support for commercial fishermen across the Gulf of Mexico following a string of catastrophic events from Hurricane Katrina to the BP Oil Spill. My team saw the incredible need to provide a hand up to keep an entire seafood economy going forward. The fishermen are getting help once again from Congress for Covid support. For our loggers who have been left out, the needs by this critically essential industry are absolutely imperative due to the devastating effects of COVID-19.  

Below, I share a short clip from Swamp Loggers star Bobby Goodson speaking about the issues loggers are facing. Bobby emphasizes that “logging is farming," yet the USDA does not recognize logging, despite the fact that forestry is under their purview.

NOTE - Sap harvesters for Maple Syrup are getting help from USDA. Pulp Harvesters, loggers, for paper and boxes, etc are NOT?

Where does maple syrup come from? Trees…just like the boxes waiting for you on your porch.

IN BOBBY'S WORDS:

With the lack of support from the USDA, clearly we as a logging community have work to do on the national level to receive the recognition we deserve. Farmers harvesting food are awarded support. Loggers who provide you the products you need made from wood aren’t?

HOW BAD IS IT? (from their perspective)

The current situation is bad enough that loggers are asking for financial help from Congress. This is the FIRST congressional request ever made by the loggers, despite a long and extensive history of congressional support for farmers. 

Along with our colleagues in Maine, we’ve worked hard with Senator Collins (ME) and Congressman Rouzer (NC) to introduce the bipartisan/bicameral Loggers Relief Act. 

Just like the commercial fishermen, America’s loggers put their lives on the line everyday. Logging and commercial fishing are the two of the most dangerous jobs in America on a per capita basis. Their pride in their work and their irreproachable work ethic are inspiring, and we cannot let them down. 

Join with the American Loggers Council and me in telling our legislators that you support the Loggers Relief Act and the USDA’s recognition of loggers as farmers. The loggers need your voice to be heard!

The USDA already has the existing programs in place today that could accommodate the program in the Loggers Relief Act. They just need to give the loggers the respect they deserve. 

Help us keep America's $300 billion wood economy going forward by recognizing the profound role that loggers play in our economy and in our daily lives with the consumption of all of the products that you depend on made from wood.  

The USDA needs to stand up for America’s loggers.

Best,

Ewell Smith, Executive Director

Carolina Loggers Association

PS Not only are our our loggers America’s #essential workers, they’re also our #HiddenHeroes.  Let’s #SaveAmericanLoggers